Bigger than big

Kyndall had me thinking yesterday. She drove me into work and we were surmising the impact of an airliner against the Denver skyline.
Have you seen the shot of the guy below the towers being interviewed, just as the second plane sinks into the second tower? Stunning, isn't it?

Consider this. An airliner massive enough to comfortably carry passengers across the country, hits the building and the wings don't break off! I mean, there was nearly room to spare. These buildings are absolutely massive.

Most of us cannot comprehend the magnitude of this tragedy because we do not have a reference point as to the size of the towers.

A plane strikes a tower and people on the floors above it still have power and phone service! Kyndall was raised in Monett, Missouri - a town of around seven thousand - it would take seven towns Monett's size to fill just one of the Trade towers!

Here's something, I have been thinking.

I am glad it was an office building that was hit. In light of Oklahoma City, the tragedy was magnified by reports of nurseries full of children engulfed in the impact and flame. Terror against adults is one thing; terror against children is another.

I am glad the plane struck the tower. The last thing we would ever want is an airliner full of fuel tumbling through Manhattan because it slightly missed its target.

I am glad the towers collapsed. Can you imagine the mortal carnage if either of those massive towers had fallen to one side or the other and not neatly fallen upon itself?

I am glad the pentagon was hit. What a horror to the American nation if the capital, the White House or a Smithsonian had been destroyed. Still dead people, but add to it the complete loss of national treasures in art, architecture and history.

No one is saying it, and I can guess why.

But, conflict is eventually good for the economy. Tragedy is repeatedly healthy for the society. Consider also, have you heard the name of God so often referenced than in the past week's time?

Dust off your Lee Greenwood CDs, my friend, grab a Kleenex and hold on as patriotism, spirituality and a renewed sense of community pride is about to unfold.

One last thing. These notes of late have had the singular topic of the terrorist attack from September 11th. I think, and I am easily guilty, that things like this can become obsessive. I recommend to you, as I attempt to practice in my own house, to turn off the news for a night. Talk about other things. Don't fixate.

Another last thing. Man, it is so hard to push off the desire for revenge. All I want is to turn some significant acreage into glass! We have the friggin' bomb; what's it for? It's hard not to think like that. It's hard to remain in control of my initial desires and check them against my beliefs of how people are to act - rather, how I am to act.

Chanting to myself again and again: A violent response to injustice is not Christ-like. A violent response to injustice is not Christ-like. A violent response to injustice is not Christ-like. A violent response to injustice is not Christ-like. A violent response to injustice is not Christ-like.

Or could it be? Just this once?